Lalu seeks passport back from CBI court for foreign tour

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad has sought his passport back from the Central Bureau of Investigation court of Ranchi in view of his proposed official tour to Singapore and Malaysia on May 12.

Lalu had submitted his passport on the court's directive in connection with RC 38, a in the multi-crore fodder scam.

The Railway Minister's counsel had filed an application before the special CBI court on Tuesday to release the passport. However, keeping in view the tour's urgency, designated judge Sanjay Prasad took up the matter on the same day and directed the CBI to file a reply on May 5.

Lalu is scheduled to give a lecture at INSEAD business school in Singapore on May 12. He will interact with about 350 MBA students at the institute, one among the world's top ten business schools, to give them an insight into 'Lalunomics' in the Indian railways.

He is also scheduled to visit Malaysia on May 15 in connection with Rs 4,000 crore high speed corridor project bagged by the IRCON amid tough international competition.

The Union Minister will also visit China and Japan in May to for a detailed study and review the metro network of both the countries and to establish the same system in India, sources said.

In 2007, the Railway Minister had visited the United States, France, Italy and England and interacted with aspiring business brains of renowned Business schools like Harvard, Wharton, IIM-A and HEC, Paris.

He has also been invited by the World Bank, Japan and South Korea to narrate his experiences as India's Railway Minister. Lalu was also scheduled to deliver a lecture at the bank's headquarters in Washington in 2007, but could not attend because of Parliament session.

The Minister is also likely to address American and Bangladeshi bureaucrats in Washington and Dhaka respectively later this year.